


This is the Wonder

by compo67



Series: Punzel Verse [4]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Anxiety, Common Cold, Light Angst, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Prose Poem, Tenderness, Timestamp, Toddlers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 09:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1977384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/compo67/pseuds/compo67
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Timestamp to the Punzel Verse, set when the trio is two. Bailey falls ill with a fever and his parents are ready to take him to the hospital. One last attempt is made to break the fever; Jared watches from the sidelines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This is the Wonder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mcdanno28](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcdanno28/gifts).



> requested. totally made me cry. ugly cry. ;-;
> 
> poem is "i carry your heart with me" by ee cummings. there's a fantastic version up on youtube, one read by mark coleman, that's the best to listen to. go. go do it. you won't be disappointed.
> 
> for mcdanno. <3
> 
> hope you enjoy the drabble.

Bailey has been sick for three days.

The fever has spiked to 105 and the guys are getting the SUV ready for a trip to the ER.

Everyone is desperate. Everyone is praying.

For three days, their every moment of attention was focused on the ill two-year old. Jensen stayed up all night, getting two hours of sleep, so that Jared could sleep with the girls and explain to them what was happening to their brother.

What if they did something wrong? What if they waited too long? What if this is the start of something more serious—something that has been lurking there under the surface like an iceberg?

What if this is something Mimi, Papa, mommy, and daddy can’t fix?

Tears in his eyes, Jared walks from the kitchen towards their bathroom, where Jensen is getting Bailey ready for the trip. He can’t bear the thought of one of their babies hooked up to machines, lying in a hospital bed, waking up and not being in their own bed. What’s going to happen? Why hasn’t the fever broken? What could Jared have done differently?

Standing at the door, Jared tries to pull himself together before stepping in. He can’t let Bailey see him worry. Everyone needs to stay calm for him.

Sniffling, Jared hears Bailey’s voice, babbling something to Jensen.

“Shh, baby, just rest,” can be heard from the other side of the door. “I won’t forget Bun-Bun.”

Bun-Bun, true to Jensen’s word, is already packed in the overnight bag.

It was the screaming during the middle of the night that pushed everyone into panic. Bailey woke up at three, shrieking, sobbing, and kicking. The fever wouldn’t let up. It sank its horrible claws into Bailey and refused to let go. It’s nine in the morning now, and Jeff will stay here with the girls while the three of them take Bailey ten minutes away to the nearest ER.

Anxiety grips Jared’s senses. It’s all he can feel, down to the very last hair.

Quietly, Jared nudges the door open, wringing his hands, feeling his shoulders tremble. He has a bag for himself packed already; Jensen and Misha will need to swing back and get theirs.

These past three days have been filled with nonstop worry.

Jared steps into the bathroom just as Jensen’s voice sounds out again, hushed this time, in an exhausted murmur. He’s sitting in the tub, dressed in his sweats, holding a naked toddler to his chest. His hands look large against Bailey’s back as circles are rubbed. And from here, Bailey looks so very small.

“I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart.”

One freckled hand brushes hair away from Bailey’s sweaty forehead.

“I am never without it. Anywhere I go, you go, my dear.”

Snot and crusty stuff are wiped from Bailey’s scrunched nose with that same hand.

“I fear no fate, for you are my fate, my sweet.”

A dip to the water is made and a soft washcloth is pulled from the edge of the tub.

“I want no world, for beautiful, you are my world, my true.”

Kisses are pressed to Bailey’s cheeks as the washcloth does its work against his forehead.

“And it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing to you.”

The washcloth is dipped again. Bailey stirs. Jensen tilts Bailey back up, so that Bailey’s ear is resting against his chest to hear the smooth rumble of his voice.

“Here is the deepest secret nobody knows,” Jensen whispers, keeping them both submerged in lukewarm water. “Here is the root of the root, and the bud of the bud, and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide.”

Each word fills the bathroom, surrounding Bailey completely.

Jensen has been awake since eleven o’clock last night.

“This is the wonder,” he breathes into wisps of Bailey’s hair, “that’s keeping the stars apart.”

Daddy is here.

He is here for everyone.

The final words find their way out as kisses to a cooling forehead.

“I carry your heart. I carry it in my heart.”

The fever breaks.


End file.
